Compliance June 15, 2007

PBGC Seeks Approval for Multiemployer Plan Information Request

June 15, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued a notice seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of its rules for information to be collected regarding multiemployer plan elections and inviting public comment.
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Under Section 1106 of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), certain plans are allowed to elect to be multiemployer plans pursuant to procedures prescribed by the PBGC. With the current notice, the PBGC is requesting that OMB approve its requirement that employers submit information for three prior years when requesting multiemployer plan status.

Under PBGC procedures for multiemployer plan elections, a plan is eligible for the election if it is a plan revoking a previous election to remain a single-employer plan under section 3(37)(E) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), or if it is a plan with respect to which substantially all employer contributions were made by tax-exempt employers.

According to the notice, in either case the PBGC requires that for three prior plan years the plan must have been a plan to which more than one employer was required to contribute pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements.

The PBGC is requesting that public comments regarding the notice be submitted by July 16, 2007. Procedures for submitting comments are included in the notice, which can be viewed here .

The notice also includes instructions for obtaining election applications. Plans must make an election by August 17, 2007.

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